Update on the Scenic Class action suit in OZ

Just read this on one of our news sites and thought it may be of interest to our readers. If you recall this incident and others of the floods of 2013 made many Australian Scenic customers very unhappy. The news story is attached.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-26/luxury-river-cruise-holiday-like-backpackers-tour-court-told/7358206

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/class-action-against-against-scenic-tours-over-european-river-cruises-20160426-goez9y.html yes saw that and more info here at the link.

it will be interesting to see how this goes. as we know each company handles customer concerns differently.

Thanks for posting the stories. How long do cases like this usually take from this point in the Australian legal system?

Thanks for posting the stories. How long do cases like this usually take from this point in the Australian legal system?

As is probably the case in your part of the world it will depend on the witness list. I would suspect we don't get an answer for at least 6 weeks. I'll try and keep an eye on it but class action suits like this one don't garner a lot of publicity down here.

More information about this matter for those interested on the Aussie board - link here - check my latest post.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2348568

Both parties and the judge fully expect an appeal - as this would be a test case. I would not hold my breath for the FINAL decision to come out from the review (higher Court of Appeal) before late this year or more likely early 2017. Often the Judge and Appeal Judges take quite some time hear to reach the judgement after the hearing concludes.

How long do cases like this usually take from this point in the Australian legal system?

Hi Just Jazz

At least a few more months.

It has been ongoing for a while already.

Thousands of pages of documentation are involved that the judge will need to read, and also place his learned various weighting on what the passengers expected and/or received.

How long did the company know beforehand about any problems and why did they virtually force people onto buses?

Can a cruise ship be fairly substituted by a bus/coach?

What alternatives (if any) were the pax given?

What are the legal implications of the purchaser allegedly being bound to complex T&C's -just by paying a deposit?

As passengers were aware of the flooding from news and other media, why did the company not know?

Can a 1 in 500 year flood across a river system consisting of the Rhine, the Main and the Danube be classified as a "sudden and unexpected interruption"?

Could this possibly be expected to return to normal within a day or two?

There are of course many more questions than this that are required to be evaluated, weighed and judged.

Believe me, a $20,000+ bus ride and stuck on non-moving floating hotels is NOT what the pax purchased!

Very interesting to see that the current court action against Scenic in Sydney made them to do what should have been done long before - a free travel insurance enabling passengers to cancel AFTER COMMENCEMENT in view of severe weather disruption- and to get cash refund. So in future Scenic would not be so shy to cancel a cruise at the start or even half way through. So it's the big win for future river cruises pax, irrespective of the court result.

I posted full details today at my link on the Australian board - link here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2348568

This sounds like very good news for future Scenic passengers. And hopefully it will become an expected part of at least all river cruise lines that claim to be "inclusive."